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Arsenal in San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
 

Alfred Giles House

 
 
Alfred Giles House Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 22, 2018
1. Alfred Giles House Marker
Inscription.

Alfred Giles is remembered as a major architect who designed many edifices throughout Texas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in 1853 in Hillingdon, Middlesex County, England, Giles spent his early days as an architect's apprentice in London. For health reasons, he moved to Texas in 1873 and worked with contractor John H. Kampmann. This experience taught Giles much about local materials. During his time in San Antonio, he established his own firm in 1876 and built residences for many historic figures such as Edward Steves (509 King William), Carl Wilhelm August Groos (335 King William) and Alexander Sartor (217 King William).

In 1883, Giles constructed two small residences at 306 and 308 King William Street. He and his family lived at 308 King William from 1885 to 1888. The house was later remodeled by Giles and given as a wedding present to his daughter, Beatrice Angela Giles, and her husband, Paul Dreiss. The Dreiss family lived in the house from 1914 to 1931. In the 1980s, King William resident Walter Mathis undertook the restoration of 14 structures in the King William neighborhood, including 308 King William. Mathis added a small porch on the west façade of the house and converted the hayloft of the carriage house into living quarters.

The L-plan, Folk Victorian-style house features
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a carpenter scroll-saw canopy and a king post truss over the front gable windows, plus dentil molding and wood balusters on the porch. The King William Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2015
Marker is property of The State of Texas

 
Erected 2015 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 18172.)
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: ArchitectureNotable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1883.
 
Location. 29° 24.885′ N, 98° 29.575′ W. Marker is in San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. It is in Arsenal. Marker is on King William Street south of Beauregard Street, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located directly in front of the subject house, beside the sidewalk, just inside the fence. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 308 King William Street, San Antonio TX 78204, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Charles F.A. and Emilie Hummel House (a few steps from this marker); Altgelt-Isbell House (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Oscar and Rachel Berman House (about 500 feet away); Site of Guenther's Upper Mill (about 500 feet away); Norton-Polk-Mathis House
Alfred Giles House Marker (<i>wide view</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 22, 2018
2. Alfred Giles House Marker (wide view)
(about 500 feet away); Chabot House (about 500 feet away); Mary Virginia Burkholder (about 500 feet away); Sartor House (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Antonio.
 
Regarding Alfred Giles House. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (2015)
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Texas County Courthouses designed by Alfred Giles
 
Also see . . .
1. Alfred Giles. Alfred Giles designed a number of Texas courthouses. The exact number is problematic because of questions regarding attribution of some courthouses. It is certain Giles designed courthouses for Bexar, Brooks, El Paso, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Live Oak, Webb and Wilson counties. Of these eleven court-houses, seven are still standing. (Submitted on June 15, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. Alfred Giles. Giles produced designs for unpretentious domestic residences and showy mansions, county courthouses, and commercial and institutional structures all over Texas. In San Antonio, in what is now the King William Historic District, the English architect designed
Alfred Giles House image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 22, 2018
3. Alfred Giles House
residences for Edward Steves (1877) and Carl Wilhelm August Groos (1880), in Fredericksburg, the old Gillespie County Courthouse (1881); in Bandera, the old Bandera County Jail (1881); in Floresville, the Wilson County Courthouse (1884); and in Laredo, the Webb County Courthouse (1909). (Submitted on June 15, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

3. King William Historic District. The King William Historic District is just south of the central business district of San Antonio. It comprises parts of some twenty-two blocks with seventy-nine historic structures, most dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. The earliest surviving structures in the historic district from the 1860s and 1870s are simple one-story buildings with thick masonry walls, shutters, and porches. Later structures feature various Victorian high styles, including Second Empire, Romanesque Revival, and Italianate. The area also features the works of many of San Antonio's best late-nineteenth-century architects, among them Alfred Giles. (Submitted on June 16, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
Alfred Giles House "Twin" (<i>"twin house; located next door</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 22, 2018
4. Alfred Giles House "Twin" ("twin house; located next door)
Gillespie County Courthouse, Fredericksburg, TX (Designed by Alfred Giles, 1881) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 23, 2018
5. Gillespie County Courthouse, Fredericksburg, TX (Designed by Alfred Giles, 1881)
Wilson County Courthouse, Floresville, TX (Designed by Alfred Giles, 1884) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 20, 2018
6. Wilson County Courthouse, Floresville, TX (Designed by Alfred Giles, 1884)
Webb County Courthouse, Laredo, TX (<i>Designed by Alfred Giles, 1907</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 20, 2018
7. Webb County Courthouse, Laredo, TX (Designed by Alfred Giles, 1907)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 14, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 721 times since then and 45 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on June 14, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   2, 3. submitted on June 15, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   4. submitted on June 16, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   5, 6. submitted on June 15, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   7. submitted on June 18, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024